


Don't Fail Me Now

by ExhaustedCommonSense



Category: The Haunting of Hill House (TV 2018)
Genre: Crazy Crains, Steve centric, none of them are, poor steve really isn't having a good time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-08-27 17:05:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16706470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExhaustedCommonSense/pseuds/ExhaustedCommonSense
Summary: “Once on a time a paper kite,Was mounted to a wondrous height.But ah like a prisoner bound,His string confines him near the ground.Tugged and pulled he never woke,And for the string, at last it broke.Unable his own weight to bear,He fluttered downwards through the air.Unable his own course to guide,The winds soon plunged him in the tide.”Their last trip to Hill House was dangerous for all of them, but it might end up deadly for the eldest Crain sibling as he begins to go down a path previously walked by his mother.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Walls We Build](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16349597) by [thedevilstiger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilstiger/pseuds/thedevilstiger). 



> Title from Muddy Waters by LP
> 
> Playlist [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7wk9l8Zoj4EAFFjK9v2a85)

_“Oh, my love,” Olivia reached up and ran a loving hand along his jaw. “You were always so tethered to the earth. The wind would howl but you barely even swayed.”_

_“Stevie,” Hugh whispered from behind him._

_“When did the wind get too strong?” Olivia frowned, reaching up both hands and pressing them against the sides of his forehead. “You’re hardly holding on at all anymore.”_

_“Stevie,” Hugh insisted, his voice getting louder and echoing around them._

_“Don’t worry, my love,” Olivia smiled, her grip tightening. “It’s just a storm…just another colour storm.”_

_“Steve!”_

He flinched back from the hands reaching for him and grabbed his head as a sharp unending pain burst across his skull and lights exploded like fireworks behind his eyes. Blindly, he threw a hand out and steadied himself against something.

“Steve!” Luke’s voice sent up more fireworks, causing him to tighten his grip on both his head and whatever was supporting him.

Hands steadied him and pushed until he was sat down. He could hear Shirley ordering someone to get the lights and then a glass was pushed into his hand.

“Take this,” Theo murmured, her voice purposefully quiet but still too loud. She folded his hand around a tablet and he didn’t hesitate to swallow it with a gulp of water, sagging backwards once someone had taken the glass from him.

Carefully, he attempted to open his eyes, wincing at the flares of colour that ricocheted around his skull. He nearly flinched again at the sight that awaited him: Luke was pacing around the kitchen, his mouth moving as he silently counted to seven again and again, Theo was leaning against the counter, her gaze flicking between Steve and Luke, and Shirley was crouched in front of Steve, holding a glass of water.

“Shit,” he groaned, bringing one leg up and resting his elbow on his knee so that he could rub his forehead. The pain was slowly fading to a manageable level, but it was leaving him with a disconnected sensation that he recognized from his strongest painkillers. “What’d you give me?”

Theo held up a familiar pill bottle and wiggled it. As he’d expected, the tablets were the strongest migraine relief he kept for emergency flare ups; they worked the quickest, but they also left him feeling drugged and sluggish.

“You want to explain what that was?” Shirley looked seconds away from scowling, her concern visibly melting into anger as he watched. “You said no more secrets!”

“Ah,” Steve recoiled weakly from her voice. “Quietly, please, my head.” The worst thing about the drugs was that it left him both drunk and hungover at the same time. He struggled briefly to get to his feet, wobbling until Luke took a hold of his arm and steadied him. “Sorry, just a migraine.”

“Just a-,” Shirley whisper shouted, cutting herself off and taking a deep breath. “You looked just like mum.”

Theo hunched over slightly and Luke pressed closer at the mention of their mum. It had only been a couple of months since the House, since losing their dad, since Steve had been left to explain their family’s twisted past.

“Colour storms,” Steve sighed, ghosting his own hand across the side of his head with a shudder.

He swayed in place and blinked the colours out of his eyes, determinedly not turning his head to make out the shapes hovering at the corner of his eyes. The unflinching reaction from his siblings was proof enough that whatever was hidden just out of sight would only be visible to him.

“You said no more secrets,” Shirley repeated stubbornly, drawing his attention.

Steve let out a breath, relaxing into Luke’s hold as a wave of exhaustion appeared to try pull him under. “Not a secret,” he muttered, his tongue feeling as heavy as the rest of his body. “Always had ‘em, since ‘fore mum.”

“I think we should probably talk about this later,” Luke pulled at his arm until he was partly draped over his shoulder and began walking him towards the bedroom. They stumbled a bit on the way, Luke clearly more used to being the one supported than the one doing the heavy work, but he settled him onto the bed without complaint.

“We need to know about this sort of shit,” Shirley’s voice flowed into the bedroom from the open door.

Steve blinked up at the ceiling, disorientated and confused by the lapse in time he’d experienced between Luke putting him on the bed and being left alone. He let his head turn towards the door to drowsily watch his siblings’ shadows pace across the hallway floor.

“I know that, Shirley,” Luke sounded as tired as Steve felt. “But you could see he was exhausted. We aren’t going to get anything from him until the pills have worn off.”

It was getting harder to fight against the pull of sleep. There was a part of him that wanted to keep listening, but the sounds were already becoming muffled even as their shadows blurred. His eyes slipped shut against his violation just as he realized that he shouldn’t have been seeing four shadows.

-

The sound of the bedroom door opening woke Steve up from his dreamless sleep. He pressed a cautious hand to his head while sitting up and glancing over to the doorway. Theo was stood frozen with one hand on the door handle, staring into the room with wide eyes.

“Theo,” he stood up a little unsteadily and stopped in front of her, noting absently that his headache had completely gone.

“You didn’t shut this door,” she didn’t say it as a question. He looked down and was unsurprised to see she wasn’t wearing her gloves.

“Right,” he nodded shakily. “That’s…let’s just…”

He waved a hand and slumped in relief when she understood his gesture, backing out of the room to lead him into the living room. Luke glanced up when they entered, frowning in concern over whatever he saw.

“Shirley’s talking to Kevin,” he told them. “She’s thinking of extending the trip a little.”

Steve muffled a groan into his hands and wandered into the kitchen to begin searching for something for them to eat. They had all been trying to talk and see each other more often since the House, but they’d only meant to be staying with him for one night while they helped Luke settle into his new flat that was a short drive to Steve’s house.

Leigh was visiting her family, so it had made sense to invite his sisters down to help Luke move in. He pushed down the part of him that could admit it was also because he didn’t want to be alone. Theo had stayed the night in his guest room while Shirley had stayed with Luke. Things were better between them, but it was still safer to not leave the two eldest alone if it could be avoided.

“Sounds like Kevin has things sorted,” Theo noted, pulling open the fridge only to close it again after a quick scan of the contents. “Guess you’ll have to put up with us a bit longer.”

“It was just a migraine,” Steve pinched between his eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Mum used to get migraines,” Theo folded her arms and Steve wondered idly when she’d put her gloves back on. “She said she used to see things when she got them.” She stared at him in a way that seemed to go straight through him until he had to look away.

“I don’t have anything in,” he muttered, averting his eyes. He avoided touching her as he went back into the living room and took a seat next to Luke.  “We’ll have to order in.”

“Okay,” Luke shrugged, shifting so that he could watch Theo follow Steve in. They shared a look over his head while he was distracted by Shirley finishing her phone call.

There was an awkward tension around them after they’d ordered pizza. As expected, Shirley was the first one to break, the silence becoming too much and her worried anger bubbling back to the surface.

“So, are we going to talk about this?” She demanded. “Or are we just going to ignore the fact that Steve zoned out in the kitchen for no reason and then nearly passed out from a migraine.”

“Shirl,” Steve sighed. “It was a migraine, mum used to get them, it’s just…it’s just in our genes, she-.”

“Fuck you!” Shirley jumped up, cutting him off. “You do not get to bring up this bullshit about us having some sort of mental illness! I am so fucking tired of your ‘it’s in our genes’ crap.”

“That’s not what-.”

“Mum used to see things when she had a migraine,” Theo spoke up. “Steve just about admitted he did too earlier.”

“Well, thank you, Dr Crain,” Steve rolled his eyes. “But that’s not what I-.”

“After all the stuff we went through,” Shirley glared at him. “You still can’t even pretend to consider it’s anything but a fucking mental illness.”

“Shirley! Fuck,” Steve stood up too. “That’s not what I was saying!” He paced a quick line between the seats. “It’s something mum used to say to me, okay? I got these fucking migraines and she used to say that it wasn’t anything to worry about, that it was in our genes and it meant I was sensitive like her.”

“Like Grandma,” Theo interrupted. “Mum told me I was sensitive too when she gave me my gloves. She said we all were.”

“In our genes,” Steve repeated, rubbing at his eyes. “Fucking crazy Crain’s who were doomed before we ever stepped foot in that house.”

Knocking at the door startled them from their dark thoughts. Theo and Shirley jumped, glancing at the door with looks of trepidation. Luke coughed and pushed himself to his feet, counting his steps as he walked to the door and pulled it open with only a slight hesitation.

Everyone relaxed at the sight of the delivery man on the other side and Steve fetched his wallet from the side before joining Luke at the door to pay him. The atmosphere lightened as they settled back down with their food, the silence comfortable rather than tense.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Shirley commanded, gracing them with a small smile before she pulled Steve into a quick hug.

“I really am fine,” he assured them as Luke hugged him goodbye as well.

“We really don’t believe you,” Theo told him cheerfully, ushering him back inside while she followed them to the car.

Steve rolled his eyes and turned around to enter the living room, stumbling at the sight of his mother stood there in her red house coat. “I don’t think I believe me either.”


	2. Chapter 2

_“Shirley,” Nell grinned at her. “Are you lost?”_

_She reached over and took one of her hands, leading her into a corridor that she recognized from Steve’s house._

_“There’s no need to worry,” Nell reassured, swinging their joint hands like she did as a child. “I know where Steve is.”_

_There was a terrifyingly familiar red door where Steve’s room should be and Shirley froze at the sight of it, no matter how much Nell tugged on her hand._

_“That’s not right, is it?” Nell hummed thoughtfully, bringing one hand up to touch the red wood. “He’s not in here yet.”_

_Shirley jolted, her grip tightening as a flash of pure fear and adrenalin coursed through her. The ‘yet’ echoing around them like a promise._

_“But he is so close,” Nell spun to face her._

_The corridor seemed to get so much darker, but Nell grabbed her other hand and squeezed both of her hands so tightly Shirley could feel her bones grinding together._

_“He’s so much more like mum than we realised,” Nell told her with a solemn understanding in her eyes. “And he’s becoming untethered…like a kite.” Nell jerked forward, her neck snapping to the side from the sudden movement, her mouth opening ready to scream._

“Not the Red Room!” Shirley sat up with a gasp, holding a hand over her pounding heart.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark, showing her that she was still the spare room of Luke’s new flat. The dream was still so clear in her mind; the last dream she’d had like that had been Nell dancing in the Red Room and she was determined not to ignore this one.

“Luke!” She shouted, jumping out of bed and pulling her boots on over her pyjama bottoms. “Luke!”

“Shirley!” Luke swung the bedroom door open, a panicked look on his face that turned to confusion when he saw that she was shrugging a jacket over her night clothes. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“We have to go back,” she ordered desperately, pushing him out of her room and into his. “Get your shoes and coat. We have to go.”

Luke did as she asked without questioning her, as if he could feel the same sense of urgency that she did. His hands shook as he locked the door behind them, but he remained quiet until they were in the car.

“What’s going on?” He finally asked.

“I don’t know,” she could feel her hands trembling on the steering wheel. “I think…I think Steve’s in danger.”

The drive to Steve’s had never felt so long as they drove the rest of the way in tense silence. Shirley tightened her grip on the wheel every time she began to feel worried and prayed that Theo would be able to handle whatever was happening until they got there.

Luke jumped out of the car before she’d even finished parking up, racing up to the front door and pounding on the wood, uncaring or oblivious to the neighbours he might have woken up. The nonstop knocking was cut off by Theo swinging the door open, her heated glare melting at the sight of them.

“Where’s Steve?” Shirley demanded, pushing her way past her sister and calling out for Steve, getting louder when he didn’t immediately respond.

Shirley could feel the hairs on the back her neck stand up as she made her way further into the house and came to a stop in the hallway. The shadows seemed to lengthen the longer she looked, the corridor stretching unnaturally.

The bedroom door was unchanged; no red wood to be seen, but Shirley couldn’t stop the tremor going through her body as she approached the door. The house was too quiet; Theo and Luke should have been behind her but she was alone.

“Steve?” She whispered, her voice refusing to get louder.

There was a crash behind her and she spun around in time to see the shadow of Nell’s broken silhouette in the bathroom hallway before it blended into the rest of the shadows. Refusing to hesitate, Shirley left the empty bedroom behind her and rushed into the bathroom, nearly crying in relief when she spotted Steve stood in front of the sink.

“Steve,” she gasped.

He didn’t look at her and there was a dark heavy feel to the air, as if something was about to go wrong. Shakily, she took another step forward and reached out to touch him, gripping him tightly. Her touch snapped him out of it, his eyes snapping to face her and his mouth opening to gasp in air as if he hadn’t been breathing until that moment.

“Steve!” Theo and Luke burst into the bathroom as the world seemed to snap back into place and the shadows receded in defeat. “Are you okay? Why didn’t you answer?”

“I didn’t hear you,” Steve gasped out, his eyes flickering around the room before coming to rest at the sink. “I think I must have been asleep.”

Shirley followed his gaze and found her grip tightening around his arm in a hold that must have been painful. The tablets they’d given him for his headache were strewn across the sink along with other weaker painkillers. It was as if he’d emptied his medical cabinet onto the side of the sink.

“Did you take any?” Luke asked nervously, his fingers tapping against his wrist as his eyes roved over the drugs.

Steve shook his head and took a step back from the sink. “I was dreaming.”

“Steve!” Theo barked, displacing Shirley so that she could stand in front of him. “Concentrate, we need to know if you took more tablets, you might have taken too many.”

“You could overdose,” Luke reached up to rub at his neck. “Fuck.”

“I didn’t,” Steve shook them off and paced a short circuit around the bathroom. “I didn’t take any.”

“Okay,” Shirley nodded reassuringly. “Okay, that’s good. Theo and I are going to clean this up, why don’t you go into the living room with Luke.” She caught Luke’s eye to get him moving and then watched them leave, only letting herself sag in defeat once they’d gone.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave this for him to find again,” Theo spoke up, gesturing toward the sink. “We have no idea what would have happened if we hadn’t found him.”

Shirley shut her eyes for a second, the ‘yet’ still echoing around her head in Nell’s thoughtful voice. It seemed all too clear to her what could have happened and from the shaken look on Theo’s face, she knew it too.

“I’ll keep it in the guest room with me,” Theo decided once they’d swept the tablets into a bag from the cabinet under the sink. “He might need it for another migraine, but he probably shouldn’t know where to find it alone.”

“Christ,” Shirley rubbed her forehead. “Now both of our brothers are junkies.” She let out a bitter laugh. “Except one is actively trying to overdose.”

“Hey,” Theo said sharply. “You know that’s not true.”

Shirley let her shoulders drop in exhaustion and leant against the sink. “I know,” she sighed.

They left the bathroom in silence, Theo taking a small detour to stash the bag of medicine in her room, before they joined the boys in the living room. Steve had his elbows propped on his knees and he was hunched over a glass of water while Luke sat in the armchair next to him.

“Right,” Shirley stayed stood as Theo settled onto the couch alone. “I think we can all agree that it’s no longer ‘just migraines’.”

She glanced at Steve, expecting him to argue, but he just took a shaky sip of his water and placed the glass onto the table, refusing to even look up at them. There was an angry sort of sorrow bubbling in her caused by seeing how small he looked. She’d thrown the fact that he was the eldest back in his face before, but deep down she’d always known that she could go to him if she ever needed, that any of them could, because Steve was their big brother, and he was always so strong.

“We’re going to figure this out,” she promised, unsure who she was trying to reassure. “Until then, we all stay here, and we watch each other.” She waited until Steve looked up before continuing, strengthening her resolve. “We won’t lose anyone else.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rhyme mentioned in this chapter and the summary is a modified version of The Paper Kite from Aesop's Fables.

_“Once on a time a paper kite,” Nell sat alone on the edge of Steve’s bed, her legs swinging in childish glee. “Was mounted to a wondrous height.”_

_Theo looked around the room slowly, sure that something should be out of place, but it was just Steve’s bedroom, only the spectre of young Nell revealing that something was wrong._

_“But ah like a prisoner bound,” Nell continued in a playful rhythm. “His string confines him near the ground.”_

_Nell's gaze was serious even as her words rang out with childish glee, the two contradicting each other and adding to the mounting feeling of wrongness._

_“Tugged and pulled he never woke,” the words began to resound in her, as if they were recited in time with her heartbeat. “And for the string, at last it broke.”_

_Theo jerked forward, something in her screaming that the words were a warning, that there was a deadly meaning underneath the innocent sounding poem._

_“Unable his own weight to bear,” Nell smiled innocently, as if she was trying to convince her that her it was all in her head and everything was fine. “He fluttered downwards through the air.”_

_Filled with an awful panic, Theo felt rooted to the spot, dreading and needing to hear the ending. Around the room, shadows began to creep forwards towards them._

_“Unable his own course to guide,” Nell looked sad all of a sudden, like she didn’t want to tell her the ending. “The winds soon plunged him in the tide.”_

_The shadows crept closer still as the final words of the rhyme echoed around them and Theo noticed with a sick sort of dread that the window behind Nell was a familiar shape._

“Theo,” a hand shook her awake and she sat up with a startled gasp, registering Luke take a step back with his hands held up. “Sorry, I thought you might want something to eat.”

“Right,” Theo took a deep breath to pull herself together and then pushed off the blanket someone must have draped over her.

They’d all been too shook up to go back to sleep, but Theo must have dropped off just before dawn. She could hear someone moving around in the kitchen and guessed that that was where Shirley and Steve were. They’d agreed not to leave Steve on his own, even if it meant sleeping in shifts during the night.

“Shirley made coffee,” Luke added with a weak smile.

“Thank God,” Theo pointed at his ear. “You doing okay?”

Luke reached up and plucked the cigarette from behind his ear with a sheepish look. “I’m good, was just going to stand outside for a bit of a break.”

She nodded and heaved herself off the couch, massaging slightly at her back as she stepped around him. “Let me grab my coffee and I’ll join you.”

Luke huffed but didn’t argue. He’d been doing really well and was still clean, but they both knew that stress could cause a relapse and it was better not to chance it. Especially since the last time he’d popped out for a cigarette he’d ended up back at the House.

“Coffee’s on the side,” Steve pointed out when she entered the kitchen, his glasses doing nothing to hide the bags under his eyes.

“Thanks,” she grabbed a mug and made a quick get away from the awkward atmosphere by gesturing at Luke to step outside the backdoor.

They leant against the house while Luke lit his cigarette and she took a deep gulp of her coffee. The hot drink helped to wake her up; she pushed down the thought that a hard drink would do the job better.

Eventually, Luke began to shiver in the morning air, so they were forced back inside to see if there was anything to eat. Steve and Shirley were still sat around the table, staring into their bowls like they held the secrets to the universe. Theo rolled her eyes and got another two bowls out, filling them with cereal before handing one over to Luke who traded it for a spoon.

“So,” Theo swallowed her last mouthful and dumped her bowl in the sink, startling her siblings. “Do we have some sort of plan? You know, other than not letting Steve commit accidental suicide.”

“Theo,” Shirley hissed as Steve flinched and stood up, placing his bowl carefully in the sink next to hers.

“Sorry,” she muttered, looking down for a second. “I’m just…worried.”

Steve barked out a laugh. “I know the feeling.” He looked lighter than he had since his migraine as he smiled at them.

“We can figure this out,” Luke echoed Shirley’s earlier words. “We’re going to fix it.”

Steve’s face flashed with an unreadable emotion too quick for Theo to be able to accurately read before he pasted his smile back on and clapped Luke on the shoulder. Shirley bustled around them to collect their bowls, disposing of them in the sink and then hesitating like she wasn’t sure whether to wash them or not.

“Okay,” Theo tugged her gloves off, drawing everyone’s attention. “New plan.”

She held her hand out to Steve, thankful that it didn’t shake with the nerves she was only just managing to hide. Steve stared at her with wide eyes, not making any moves in her direction.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” he told her steadily, his hand twitching at his side.

“I can handle it,” she assured him. “Come on, let us help you.”

His eyes flicked between them anxiously before he reached out and took hold of her hand, watching her closely. She inhaled sharply at the contact, her eyes closing automatically as she tried to focus through the foreign impressions coursing through her.

It was like she was falling down a deep hole with nothing to stop her; guilt and sorrow weighed her down further without any positive emotions to help stop her fall. Fear of what awaited at the bottom flooded her even as she felt deep down that there was no escaping that particular landing. An undercurrent of pain surrounded her, waiting to consume her if she tried to slow her descent.

Letting out a strangled cry, she yanked her hand back, her eyes snapping open as she staggered back a step and fell over, landing with a loud bang in the middle of the kitchen. Steve backed away from her with wide eyes, no doubt seeing his own fear reflected back at him on her face.

A sharp pain drilled its way into her skull and her hand flew up to touch her forehead at the same time as Steve mirrored her movement. From the corner of her eye a red shape flickered in and out of her line of vision. Steve’s eyes followed the shape before he jerked his head to the side and stumbled into Luke.

Shirley hovered uncertainly at her side, knowing better than to touch her but still wanting to be there and comfort her. Shaking, Theo tugged her gloves on, taking deep breaths as if that would help her to forget everything she’d felt and seen.

“What the fuck, Steve,” she breathed harshly, allowing Shirley to help her up once her skin was sufficiently covered. “You didn’t think it was important to tell us that you’ve been seeing mum?”

“What?” Shirley whirled around to glare at him. “Steve! That’s something we need to know!”

“Yes,” Steve ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Alright, I see mum when I get my migraines, is that what you wanted to know? That I see her in my sleep? That I can’t tell when I’m actually asleep anymore? Do you feel better now you know I’m losing my fucking mind?”

“Steve,” Luke grabbed at him until he gave in and got pulled into a hug. “I’m with you. We got this.” Steve shuddered at the words, reaching around and hugging him back.

“Fuck, I want a drink,” Theo rubbed at the last of the fading pain in her head. “I had really hoped this shit would finish after everything we went through.”

Steve coughed and pulled away from Luke. “Dad said we were like an unfinished meal to the House,” he pinched between his eyes; Theo had a suspicion that his headache hadn’t faded like hers had. “He warned me that it was dangerous to go there, especially me.”

Luke hunched his shoulders, probably feeling responsible for the fact that they’d gone to the House to save him. Steve must have noticed his reaction because he shook his head and offered him a strained smile.

“Why especially you?” Shirley questioned. “We were all taken to the Red Room. Why did dad think it was more dangerous for you?”

“Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong,” Theo pointed out, holding her hands out when Shirley shot a glare at her.

“Did you know I saw a ghost?” Steve remarqued seemingly randomly, causing them to exchange worried glances. “Not even recently, but while we still lived in the House, I even wrote it into my book without realising.”

“Steve?” Shirley raised her hand towards him but Steve just shook his head.

“That’s the thing though,” he continued seriously. “I didn’t realise. All that time in that House, you all saw the truth behind the House, you saw the ghosts as they were. I didn’t. I only ever saw the mask. I couldn’t see the truth from lie; the ghosts were so real that I never considered they weren’t living breathing people.”

“You didn’t know they were ghosts,” Luke had an awful look of realisation on his face.

“I might as well have been walking around with my eyes shut,” Steve pressed his palm to his forehead and hissed out a breath. “I tethered myself to the knowledge that I was right, and now it’s all unravelling.”

“Like you’re falling,” Theo shivered, remembering the sensation of tumbling towards an unknown landing. Steve nodded weakly, scrunching his eyes up against the light of the kitchen. “You need another tablet.”

“No,” Steve protested, opening his eyes again only to immediately squint at the brightness. “Sleeping doesn’t seem like a good idea right now.”

“We’ll be here,” Luke reminded him, steadying him when he wobbled. “We’ll make sure nothing happens.”

Theo left the room to go get a tablet from the spare room, stuffing the bag back into its hiding place once she’d got it. They’d moved into Steve’s bedroom when she got back, Shirley sat on a chair that she must have dragged in from the kitchen and Luke sat next to Steve on the bed.

“Bottoms up,” Theo handed the tablet over, holding his gaze in a hopefully reassuring way as he swallowed it. Steve grimaced, knocking his shoulder against Luke when he leant back.

“Count it out,” Luke suggested. “Nell and I used to do it whenever we felt scared.” He reached over Steve and grabbed a handful of coins off of the bedside table as they watched. He crossed his legs and placed seven of them out in a triangle. “It helps if you touch them and count out loud. It keeps you safe.”

“Seven,” Theo smiled, brushing her finger against the middle coin. “For the seven of us.”

Steve lolled his head onto Luke’s shoulder sleepily. He stumbled through the numbers, his speech slurring as he repeated the count and his eyes drifted shut. Luke relaxed back as well, letting Steve use him as a pillow.

“You can sleep too,” Shirley assured him. “None of us had a great night last night. We’ll keep watch.”

Theo watched as Luke fell asleep next to Steve. She shuffled closer so that she could rest her forearms against the back of Shirley’s chair, prepared to keep watch as long as needed to make sure nothing happened to any more of her family.


	4. Chapter 4

_“Mum used to say that dad was a creature of the earth,” Nell recited, smiling beautifully at him in her wedding dress. “And that she was a creature of the clouds.”_

_Luke smiled helplessly back at her. He was aware that he was dreaming, but it was so good to see his twin again, to be able to feel her as if she was still alive and next to him._

_“She was the kite and he was the line,” Nell twirled, tipping her head back and beaming at him. “He kept her tethered.”_

_Her smile dropped away as she stepped closer to him, taking his hands in hers. He let her pull him closer, ignoring the way her skin was getting greyer._

_“We need a tether,” she told him, an urgent look in her eyes. “We’re different. It’s not because of where we grew up, but because of who we are.”_

_Her grip grew tight enough to be painful, her dress fraying until he realised that it wasn’t her wedding dress at all, but the dress she’d died in._

_“Steve doesn’t have a line,” Nell’s voice was beginning to reach a pitch that hurt his ears. “He can’t fly without a string. He’s falling.”_

_Nell’s nails pierced his forearms, causing rivulets of blood to drip down towards his wrists. As Luke watched, his blood seemed to grow darker and a burning sensation began to flow up his arms towards his heart._

Luke startled awake with a gasp, clutching at his chest even as the burning faded away and the permanent chill he’d learnt to live with crept back into his bones. Theo sat up from her perch on the chair by the bed, but settled back when he shook his head. Thankfully, he hadn’t disturbed Steve when he’d moved; his older brother was still passed out on the bed, a small frown revealing that his rest wasn’t as peaceful as they’d hoped.

Unable to stay sat any longer, Luke climbed carefully away from Steve until he could stand up. Theo didn’t say anything as he paced his customary seven steps back and forth, narrowly avoiding the bedside table. He shivered as he walked, rubbing his arms futilely until giving up and coming to a stop near Theo.

“I think there’s some jumpers in the second draw,” she informed him quietly, gesturing towards the dresser.

“Thanks,” Luke muttered, following her directions and pulling on the first jumper he saw. There was no point explaining that it wouldn’t make a difference, it would only make them worry.

“You alright here?” Theo stretched awkwardly. “I could do with a walk.”

“Sure,” he nodded quickly, taking her seat once she’d got up. He let his eyes flick back towards Steve once she’d gone, ready to move at the first sight of something happening.

All his life, Steve had been the steadiest, most reliable person he’d had. He’d been there for him no matter what; through his nightmares as child, his rebellious teen years that turned into his stints in and out of rehab. Even at his most messed up, Steve had never stopped trying to help him. All those years, and Luke was only just realising that Steve had been so busy being there for everyone else, no one had stepped up to help him.

Steve had been the first person he’d seen when he’d woken up at the hospital after that night in the House. He’d been the one to break the news that their dad was gone, another loss their family would have to suffer through. Luke’s grief was tempered with anger; their lives had been shaped by their fathers misguided attempts to protect them, unwilling to admit what Luke had already known deep down.

They’d all known that mum wasn’t herself during those final days. As spectators to the horror of that final night, their dad should have stepped up and helped Luke deal with the trauma of seeing their mother poison his friend. Instead, he’d helped him lock those memories away and pretended that the version of their mum that they’d all experienced had never existed.

That night had been the first time Luke had seen Steve break down; the weight of their family’s secrets too much for him to bear. He’d been so young when mum had died and they’d had to go live with their aunt, it had been easy to let Steve take on the responsibility of both parents.

Watching Steve break down as he explained what had happened, as he told them about the twisted version of their mum that would forever haunt the House, as he shook through telling them that their dad had chosen their lives over his own. That was the moment his grief was tainted by anger.

Steve shouldn’t have had to deal with everything on his own; the idea that their dad had expected him to keep it secret and bear it alone was unthinkable. Luke refused to even think of what would have happened if he hadn’t told them the truth. The cost of secrets was always high; none of them would have accepted Steve following their father’s footsteps without a fight. It would have been too easy for the House to claim another one of Luke’s dwindling family.

Steve shot up with a choked gasp before Luke could get too lost in his dark thoughts. Luke was up just as quickly, rushing to his side without a thought. Steve grabbed automatically at his arm, shuddering through a few panicked breaths before he realised where he was.

“Shit,” he let go of Luke and sagged back against the headboard. Luke shifted back to sit on the bed and waited for him to recover from whatever dream had spooked him.

“Are you okay?” He finally asked, pulling nervously at the sleeves of the jumper.

Steve sat up a bit straighter. “You know those dreams where you’re falling?” He asked, pulling his knees up to his chest. The sight of it made Luke’s chest feel tight with worry; Steve wasn’t supposed to be the vulnerable one. “You fall and it’s terrifying, but you wake up.” He shuddered, pressing the palm of his hands to his eyes. “I can’t wake up.”

“You’re awake,” Luke reached out and pulled his hands away from his eyes. “Steve, you’re awake.”

“Then why am I still falling?” Steve searched his face for an answer.

Luke tightened his grip, feeling the bones in Steve’s hand shift under the pressure. “You’re not falling, Stevie, concentrate on this,” Steve didn’t flinch at the hold. “You’re here, awake, we’ve got you.”

“Luke,” Steve stared at their hands, looking lost and dazed. “I think something’s really wrong with me.”

Beginning to feel claustrophobic, Luke stood up from the bed, dragging Steve upright as he went and leading him to the bedroom door, keeping a hold of one of his hands. The hallway in front of them gave off an air of dread and anticipation, shadows thrown into focus where no objects were there to cast them. The expected sounds of their sisters in the other part of the house were silent.

Steve stumbled behind him, not making any attempt to untangle their hands. A part of him knew instinctively that their sisters wouldn’t hear him if he called out; it was like being next to Steve was causing the House to seep back into their lives. As if the House was reaching out to claim him from them.

Luke straightened his spine, marching forward with counted steps, his mantra echoed quietly from one step behind him. The corridor shouldn’t have been as long as it was; each step reluctantly releasing them from the twisted version of the House that had corrupted Steve’s life.

“Luke?” Shirley stepped in front of them, the light from the living room temporarily blinding him as the shadows released them. “Is everything okay?”

A quick look over his shoulder revealed that the hallway was back to its ordinary state. It would have been easy to dismiss it as his overactive fears, but he knew the truth. Steve was still stood there, his eyes glazed over as if he wasn’t seeing what was right in front of him.

Luke followed his gaze, freezing when he saw Nell stood watching them. She was exactly like he remembered from the vision he’d seen in the Red Room, even down to the black hat balanced on her young head. For half a second, he could have sworn he saw their mum stood behind her, resting her hands on Nell’s shoulders and smiling welcoming towards them.


	5. Chapter 5

_“My love,” Olivia smiled lovingly at him, raising her arms to embrace him. “Have you finally come home?”_

_Steve shook his head in denial, his breath stuttering in his lungs as trails of black mould crept from her feet, crawling up the walls of his living room._

_“I remember how you used to follow Hugh around,” Olivia reminisced with a sigh, letting her arms drop. “You wanted to be just like him…I don’t think I ever realised that you were actually like me.”_

_An echo of his name resounded around them, as if someone was calling to him. Steve looked wildly around him, sure that if he could just find them then he would be safe, he would wake up._

_“I knew without Hugh I would just float away,” she continued, oblivious to his fear and the way the mould was infecting everything around her. “Taken where the wind would lead.”_

_She stepped forward gracefully, coming up to stand in front of him with the same sad smile on her face._

_“Oh, foolish kite, thou hadst no string,” she murmured, reaching up and letting her fingertips graze his forehead. He choked on a gasp, feeling the mould seep into his skin, infecting him. “How couldst thou fly without a string?”_

_A trace of remorse flickered across her face as she stepped back, leaving him paralysed. His breath got more laboured, the mould sneaking into his lungs and robbing him of air._

_“It’s time to fall, Steven,” Olivia whispered. “It’s time to come home.”_

_Steve choked, his legs giving way as he fought against the weight in his chest, suffocating with the taste of blood on his tongue._

Shirley grabbed his hands as he began to cough, choking on air like a terrible replay of Luke in the Red Room.

_Unable to support himself, he fell backwards, the ceiling getting further away as the floor behind him failed to catch him._

Luke caught him as his eyes rolled up into his head, lowering him gently to the ground, swearing when he began to convulse.

_He was tumbling through an endless tunnel, flashes of memory playing out around him only to be taken over by shadows. Hands reached out, but they didn’t offer any salvation. He was being pulled in so many directions, trying to resist being scattered into the void._

Theo sobbed, her hands shaking as she checked for a pulse, nearly crying too hard to recognize the weak beating beneath her glove.

_He could feel the bottom getting closer; the waves reaching up to take him, still unable to pull him under, but licking at his skin._

_“Close your eyes, Stevie,” Hugh ordered from the bottom. “Keep them shut.”_

_Steve squeezed his eyes shut, visions of the Red Room door imprinted on his eyelids. He could feel things moving in front of him, reaching out for him. The urge to open his eyes was almost overwhelming._

Alive. He was still alive. No amount of begging or shaking worked to wake him up. Shirley’s hands shook as she phoned for an ambulance.

_“What do you say, Stevie?” Hugh asked cheerfully. Steve opened his eyes, finding himself stood in the basement of the House, sheets of plastic covering the walls. “I knew you could help me.”_

_He reached forward to touch the blades on the fan, jerking back with a shout as they began to spin, cutting into his hand._

_Steve opened his mouth to cry out, coughing when no sound came out. He looked down to see the plug in his hands, unconnected to the socket at his feet. From the corner of his eye, he saw a red shadow slink out of sight._

Theo clawed herself back together just enough to shepherd Luke into the car and drive after the ambulance. Shirley had stayed with their brother.

_“I’m okay,” Hugh promised._

_Blood poured out of the cut, pooling at his feet. His skin greyed, eyes clouding over and his veins turning black. Mould snuck out from under the plastic, reaching up and curling around him in a mockery of a lovers embrace._

_“I can fix this,” he continued._

_Steve stumbled back in horror, shutting his eyes against the image in front of him. Hands pulled at him, tugging him into a new memory._

Luke sat in a state of shock in the waiting room. The doctors had taken Steve away, refusing to say if he would be okay.

_“I loved dancing with you at my wedding,” Nell told him, swaying in his arms as they danced around the empty ballroom. “It was so nice to have you there.”_

_The tables remained empty as they slowly moved around the dancefloor. The cake toppers were at an odd angle; they danced a little closer and Steve realised the man was laying on the floor while the woman’s head was snapped to the side._

_“I miss you, all of you,” Nell admitted. “But it isn’t time for you to join us, not yet.” They slowed to a stop. Nell smiled wistfully at him, unaware of how his eyes were following a red shadow behind her._

_A rope appeared around her neck. She pressed a hand to her throat, eyes widening with fear as she felt the rope. He jerked forward but he couldn’t get to her before they both fell. The snap of her neck shuddered through him as he shut his eyes once again, forever hiding from anything he didn’t want to see._

The beeping of the heart monitor remained the only sound as they kept watch at Steve’s side. The doctors were baffled as to what was wrong with him.

_“It’s all so confusing,” Olivia lamented, staring in frustration at the blue prints in front of her. “So easy to get lost.”_

_“We can figure it out,” Hugh kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “And then we can build our Forever Home. This house won’t beat us.”_

_“Our Forever Home,” Olivia repeated dreamily, a steady drip of blood trickling from her head onto her neck._

_“Stevie,” Hugh held his gaze over her head. “Why don’t you go find Luke.”_

_“He’s in his treehouse,” Nell piped up, clutching her cup of stars carefully in her small grasp. “It’s no girls allowed.”_

_“Then you’ll just have to stay with us,” Olivia held her close to her side. “It’s safer here. We should all stay.”_

_“Of course,” Hugh placated her soothingly. “But first, Stevie should go find the others. We’ll wait here with you.”_

_Steve blinked, the image of his parents and sister appearing further away, as if they were at the end of a long corridor. Behind him, he could hear Luke talking about a cool kid’s club, Shirley and Theo arguing in the distance._

_It was like everything had come into focus. He wasn’t falling any longer; he was stood stationary in the middle with a choice in front of him and another one behind him. The tunnel had never been a hole; he’d just been looking at it from the wrong angle._

_The draw of the family in front of him was strong: the memory of happier, simpler times. A place where he would be safe forever, where he wouldn’t have to feel the cold bite of the world anymore._

_He’d been falling so long. A kite trying to fly without a line._

_There was a tugging sensation drawing him backwards, towards the offer of a different kind of family. Towards a life filled with joy, pain, love, grief, and hope._

_To go forwards would mean to land. A kite couldn’t fly without a line. There would be no crashing, he would drop safely to the ground where he would stay._

_To go backwards would mean to fly. His family were the only line he’d ever need. A chance to soar with the knowledge that they wouldn’t let him fall._

Steve took a deep breath, coughing against the catch in his lungs. He opened his eyes, blinking against the bright light. Hands propped him against the pillows and handed him a glass of water. He took a few careful mouthfuls of water before handing it back, slowly becoming aware of where he was.

“I’m getting sick of hospitals,” he rasped out.

Once his siblings had calmed down and finished hugging him, it was easy to get the hospital to release him; they hadn’t found anything wrong with him other than the fact he wouldn’t wake up. It was less easy to get his family to stop worrying and go back to their lives.

In the end, Luke had temporarily moved into his guest room for a few weeks to make sure nothing else happened. Shirley and Theo left rather grudgingly under the promise that he’d call them at the first sight of trouble.

Personally, Steve wasn’t worried. There was a picture imprinted in his mind; flashes of the choice he’d made.

_The Red Room door shut at the end of the corridor, keeping his missing family within its walls._

_At the other end, Steve was welcomed back amongst his siblings. The door resting slightly ajar for when he was ready to land._

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [@exhaustedcommonsense](https://exhaustedcommonsense.tumblr.com)
> 
> Moodboard for this story [here](https://exhaustedcommonsense.tumblr.com/post/180564074317/dont-fail-me-now-oh-foolish-kite-thou-hadst-no)


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